Few such claims have proved as enduring, or as divisive, as the Prophecy of the Popes, a document attributed to the 12th-century Irish archbishop St Malachy. St Malachy was a 12th-century Irish papal legate and archbishop, born in Armagh – now Northern Ireland – in 1094. The prophecy consists of 112 short Latin phrases, each said to describe a future pope. Why most scholars believe the prophecy is a forgeryThe scholarly consensus is largely settled: the Prophecy of the Popes is almost certainly a forgery. Father James Weiss, a professor of church history at Boston College, told the Huffington Post: 'Theologically and organisationally, the church pays no attention to this.'